


his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

by Zillabird



Series: i know why the caged bird sings [1]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Forced Prostitution, M/M, Mutual Non-Con, Non-Graphic Violence, Other, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Threats of Violence, Underage Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-08-23 19:55:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8340589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zillabird/pseuds/Zillabird
Summary: In the middle of nowhere is a house where terrible things happen to the children kept inside. For them, the outside world may as well not exist for all the help it has brought to them. Two boys share a room, a bond, a friendship but there is no safe place in the house in the middle of nowhere and the boys learn that in the hardest way possible.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This is not a happy fic. That's an understatement. This is a really, really upsetting fic about some terrible things that happen to Jason and Dick. It's part of a series involving other people going through terrible things. I will try very hard to tag both the fics in general and each individual chapter with the warnings that apply to them but please, if any of these things even make you think you may be uncomfortable reading I would encourage you not to read.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS: Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con

As soon as they bring the boy in, Jason knows he's never going to last. It's one of those supply and demand things that Jason is pretty sure was mentioned in school before he stopped going. The boy, after all, is pretty. Not attractive or cute like some of them are here. He's just pretty. Like a goddamn fucking airbrushed model or a pretty porcelain doll. There's no way to say it, at least that Jason can put together with a fifth grade level string of words, other than that the boy has this perfect dark skin and perfect bright blue eyes with the hint of a couple dimples Jason is sure is absolutely _querido_ , or darling, as the abuelas would say as they sat on the stair stoops of the apartment buildings that lined Crime Alley.

And pretty is going to be the opposite of a good thing in a place where your looks get you dragged onto a cheap, stained mattress to play the part of an expensive blow up doll for the revolving door of men that came through.

That wasn't fair. Jason had been with a few women too.

The kid hits the ground in the most unfortunate of positions as they throw him in. He drops to his knees and then catches himself on his hands. All it does is make John smirk like the asshole that he is.

Then the door is slammed shut and the key scrapes in the door. The deadbolt clicks and then the room is silent. Almost silent. The new kid is breathing sort of heavy and Jason is ready for the waterworks. It's pretty typical for the rookies when they're brought in to start bawling at some point. Jason did. Twelve years old, his mom only dead and buried for two weeks, and he'd been lured by the promise of easy work for decent cash.

He should have known better. Street kids knew better. But Jason had been hungry and cold and so desperate for a break that he followed them with too few questions.

Now he was earning meals on his back.

"Kid-" Jason started.

The boy stood up and he was not crying. He flung himself at the door, throwing a lean body into the wood enough to make a loud thump. The force had him bouncing back only so that he could repeat the process. Jason sat silently, shocked at the outburst, before shooting to his feet. "Hey! Stop that!"

The blue eyed boy turned and- it was stupid, but he was probably even prettier with that fire in his eyes. "What?"

"Stop that. You'll make them come back," Jason snapped. He walked over, standing between the new boy and the door. He was older than Jason by a couple of years. Taller than him by several inches. Dark hair flopped over his eyes and Jason wanted to pull it out. Not out of any anger, but because he knew that there were men who would grab handfuls of that and yank. Getting his hair pulled hurt, Jason learned that the hard way.

"If I make them come back then they'll open the door and maybe we can get out of here," he said. "Move."

"Make me," Jason said, squatting a little so as to make it harder to move him. That was a silly notion, though. Jason had never been all that big, despite his dad being built up like a tank. As the years passed by in here, Jason had started dreaming that one day he'd be like his father. A big, mean, brute of a man who could knock down anyone in his way. "If they come back, they'll hurt both of us. I'm tired of being hurt."

The boy stood there, eyes widening. Because, Jason realized, the boy was stupid. Or rather, he was stupid in the ways that counted. His teeth were clean and his eyes were bright and there was life to his cheeks that said he was being fed well. Jason looked that way now, because they wanted him to look good for the clients, but when they'd brought him in he had looked little more than a heathen. All tangled, mud matted hair. Skin clinging to his bones where his body had started eating the muscle and fat his body couldn't afford to lose. This kid came from a family, a place, a home. He hadn't had the chance to let the street drag him under.

"I'm sorry," the kid said.

"It's not your fault," Jason said. He didn't dare move away from the door. "Not unless you make it your fault."

The kid didn't move and Jason tensed, getting ready for a fight. The kid surprised him by stepping back. "Fine." A pause. "For now."

Jason would take it. He watched the boy walk across the room in worn tennis shoes and drop onto the single mattress laying on the floor. He relaxed when the boy did, and not a moment before.

"My name's Dick." The boy scratched at his bare knee, bloodied under ripped denim.

"You're stupid," Jason said brutally.

The boy's head snapped up and he huffed. "I'm not stupid."

"Yes you are. Stupid enough to not know how stupid you are," Jason said. "Stupid enough to give your name to some nobody you just met."

Dick frowned. "You can't do anything with my name, stupid."

"Don't call me stupid, stupid," Jason said.

Dick rolled his eyes, dropping back on the bed.

Jason was quiet. "What kind of stupid name is Dick anyways?"

Dick didn't sit up. "My kind of stupid, I guess."

"I'm serious," Jason pressed. "How does someone end up with such a stupid fucking name?"

"You have a dirty mouth," Dick commented. "My parents didn't speak English at first. They didn't get the whole dick and Dick thing."

"My mama was Cuban," Jason shared.

Dick finally picked himself up and leaned on his forearms. "I can tell."

"No you can't," Jason said. 

"Well, maybe not the _Cuban_  part but I can tell that you grew up speaking Spanish," Dick said. "You have an accent."

"So does a French fucking E. Doesn't mean it's fucking Cuban," Jason said.

Dick was quiet for a moment, and then, "A really dirty mouth."

Jason swore and rolled his eyes, stepping away from the door. He sat down on the bed next to Dick. "You're so fucking stupid."

"Feel better?" Dick asked.

Jason laid back on the bed beside him. "No."

"Didn't think so," the boy replied.

Jason wanted to hate him. Hate him for being stupid and for drawing attention to them and making promises for now. He wanted to hate him for being named Dick and getting dragged into a brothel. He wanted to hate him for being pretty. "You're gonna die. You know that, Dickie?"

The other boy didn't comment on the nickname. "I plan on getting the hell out of here first."

"Then you're even more stupid than I thought you were," Jason said. To that, Dick only shrugged. They laid beside each other, Jason tensing when the floorboards creaked outside the door. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours - time was nothing in a locked room. "My name is Jason."

When Dickie smiled, the dimples were just as big and _querido_  as Jason had guessed they'd be.

~~~

"I spy..." Dick trailed off. 

"Haven't you run out of things yet?" Jason asked.

"With my little eye..."

Jason rolled his eyes. Dick brought that out in him a lot.

"Something black and fuzzy," Dick finally decided on.

Jason narrowed his eyes and turned to Dick to try and figure out what he was talking about. Dick had picked the ceiling, the mattress, the light bulb, the door, both of them, the blanket - but none of those things could be described as black and fuzzy. "You can't just make shit up, stupid."

"I'm not!" Dick defended.

Jason frowned and looked around the room. As if something new was suddenly going to pop up. There wasn't anything new, there was _never_  anything new. He examined the cracks in the walls for perhaps a bug to have popped through and finally given Dick the new material he so desperately craved. Or, fuck Jason hoped not, perhaps a rat on the floor. 

"Give up?" He sounded so damn smug.

"Fuck off," Jason muttered. He sat up a little more, invested in proving Dick was just as stupid as Jason knew he was.

"You can give up," Dick said, smirking. "You're never going to figure it out."

Jason stood, walking around the room in almost angry need. "You're such a fucking liar. I knew you made it up."

"I didn't make it up," Dick said, laughing now.

"Fine. Tell me what you're talking about then," Jason said.

Dick stood up and walked over, tapping Jason's upper lip until the boy smacked Dick's hand away. "That little fuzzy half of a mustache on your upper lip."

Jason growled. "I'm fourteen. I'm supposed to be growing facial hair."

"That's not facial hair. That's a caterpillar," Dick said with a smirk.

Jason tackled Dick back onto the mattress, covering Dick's cheeks with his hands. "What about you, asshole? What kind of sixteen year old doesn't have to shave more than once a week?"

Dick laughed and covered Jason's hands with his own. Under the palms of Jason's hands, his face was only starting to grow some sort of dark five o' clock shadow. "I've only been here for four days."

Four days. Right. And still no one had come to take Dick from the room. The days were passing, the meals were shoved in the small slot under the door, and Dick was left alone. Jason remembered his first day coming to the house and being passed around the guards to be broken in. There had been no period of adjustment like Dick was getting, no time between being lured off the streets and earning the food they let him scarf down after.

Why? What were they waiting for?

Jason felt guilty for wondering when they were going to take Dick away, but it wasn't out of jealousy as much as fear. Dick had this amazing smile, the kind of smile that made you want to smile with him. Beautiful, happy. When they took him away, that would change. Jason knew what living in this house did to a person and it would break the beautiful boy.

He wouldn't smile the same way and Jason was scared that it would break _him_  a little more to lose the first sign of sunlight he'd seen since they dragged him in here two years ago.

How stupidly poetic of Jason.

"What are you thinking about?" Dick asked, still pinned under Jason who was straddling his stomach and covering his cheeks.

Jason dragged his head out of the clouds and sneered. "Your stupid smile."

"Well of course," Dick said, rolling his eyes.

"I spy... something stupid," Jason said, pulling his hands away.

Dick blew out a breath. "Me?"

No. "Duh."

No, Dick was stupid. But maybe Jason was a little stupid too.

~~~

Time was sort of meaningless but if he wanted to, lights out was probably a good way to determine the days. Jason had experienced hundreds of them, too many to keep track of anymore.

Dick and Jason were curled up on the mattress under the thin blanket with the room bathed in the pitch black darkness of lights out when they came. No attempts at being quiet. The door swung open and bounced off the wall behind it, startling both boys into waking up. Dick rolled onto his back and looked up in time for one of the guards to grab him by the hair.

The guards always came in twos. As if being a foot and a half taller, at least, and bigger than a barn wasn't enough to overpower children.

"Get up." Jason recognized Frank as the guard pulling Dick up by his hair and onto his feet.

"Leave him alone!" Jason shouted. He climbed to his knees and the other guard, John, kicked him back down again. "Please. I'll go instead."

Dick was struggling but he wasn't getting anywhere. He was bigger than Jason, stronger than Jason, older than Jason - but still Dick couldn't go anywhere. It made Jason feel that much more hopeless.

"Shut up," John ordered.

Frank moved his hand from Dick's hair to the back of his neck and shoved him out of the room.

John slammed the door shut behind them. Jason ran over to the door, pulling on the handle, and pressing his ear to the door. "Dick?"

The sounds of struggling faded with the sounds of footsteps.

"Dick?"

Nothing. The room remained pitch black.

Under his feet, the floorboards creaked in the same pattern as they had been from Jason's pacing across the room. His fingers dragged across the uneven texture of paint on the walls, his guide in the inky darkness of the room.

The lights flicked back on. What normally would have been a cruel if familiar wake up call was just another sign that Dick had been gone for hours.

So many hours.

The scrape of the key in the door had Jason freezing, the only signal that Dick was coming back. Sure enough, John had the door open a moment later and pulled Dick in again. There was blood on his lip, bruises on his neck. The red around his eyes had faded by this point, a pale pink, but it was obvious enough that Jason knew he'd been crying.

That would have been the first time since Dick had come to the house.

There was no parting words before the door shut and Dick was left standing there, one arm wrapped around his chest and his hand curled around the other arm.

"Dickie?" Jason asked. He took a step forward and then stopped. It reminded him of before, a time when he'd have tried to approach the stray cats in the alleys and speak softly so as to not scare them away. "Dickie, how are you feeling?"

Dick took a deep breath and moved. There was a slight hitch to his step and Jason's chest ached knowing what that came from. He slowly lowered himself onto the mattress and only then replied, "I'm okay."

Jason almost let him get away with it. Almost. "No, you're not."

"No," Dick agreed. "I'm not."

"I'm sorry," Jason said softly.

"It's not your fault," Dick replied.

It wasn't. But maybe if he'd been better or fought less, they wouldn't have grabbed Dick from the streets and put him in a room with a bed and a camera and a man who was so sick that he spread a child's legs and- "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Dick said instantly. "I don't want what's out there to get in here."

Jason sort of understood that, and didn't understand it at all. Here was no safer than there, after all. But Jason could kind of see how the barrier of four walls and the presence of someone who understood might make it seem that way. He hesitantly sat down on the bed beside of Dick and looked him over, taking in mottled bruises on his neck and the red puffiness to his lips. There was dried blood where his lip had split and a fading red hand print on his cheek.

"I spy...with my little eye," Jason said, abruptly. Then he cut off, because this wasn't the time. It wasn't appropriate. It wasn't-

Dick's lips quirked and then he smiled, eyes closed. Jason had thought this would break that smile right out of him. It was a little weak but getting stronger and then Dick prompted, "Well?"

"Something stupid," Jason said bluntly.

The ray of sunshine that was a Dick Grayson smile broke through and the soft chuckle that followed made Jason smile too. "Let me guess. It's me."

"Yeah, it's you, stupid," Jason said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to back updates like this is probably not going to happen a lot. Especially with NaNoWriMo fast approaching.
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS: Implied/Referenced Torture, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Forced Prostitution - all sexual acts take place "off screen" but there is lead up and aftermath that makes it clear what has happened

Dick had always been told that he was a friendly sort of person. He made friends with the other circus performers, friends with the animals that traveled along with them, friends with the audience members. He generally liked people as a rule and the little boy he shared a bedroom with was no different.

Jason was a lot like the sip of vodka Dick's father had let him try. The first sip was awful and hard to get down, but once you did it made you feel warm inside. Made you smile a little bit easier. That was Jason. Brash and blunt, striking out with words, but if you could get use to the taste then he made you feel pretty damn good.

It might have been weeks or months, Dick couldn't really tell, but Jason was the constant and they formed first an alliance and then a shaky friendship which grew stable and solid until the two could be heard laughing at made up stories or vaguely remembered jokes with ill said punchlines that were still funnier than anything else said inside the house.

"When I get out..." Jason trailed off, another round of their new game to pass the time. "When I get out, I'm going to marry a princess."

"You'll be lucky to marry the jester," Dick commented.

"Shut up," Jason said.

Dick chuckled and then looked over. "Why a princess?"

"Because they're beautiful," Jason said.

"Seems kind of shallow," Dick replied. "Marrying someone just for their looks."

"Did I say it was just about looks, stupid?" Jason demanded. He huffed. "I said that princesses were beautiful. Like in the Disney movies? They're beautiful and they make the people around them feel better and do better things. All the birds come to them."

"Birds?" Dick asked incredulously. Sometimes, on the nights when one of them would get dragged away, Dick struggled to remember how young Jason truly was. Other times he dreamed marrying a princess and Dick mourned for the child whose innocence had been corrupted. "What's so great about birds?"

"They're free," Jason said. There was some color in his cheeks. "And they fly to the princess because they want to. With all that freedom, they just fly right to the princess."

"Because she's beautiful," Dick finished. Beautiful on the outside and beautiful, according to Jason, on the inside.

"Yeah," Jason said.

"I'm sure you'll make a princess very happy one day," Dick said.

Jason snorted. "Doubtful."

"Why is that?" Dick asked.

"Because I'm more of a bird than a prince," Jason replied. When he looked over at Dick, he had to have seen the confused expression. "You never watched many Disney movies, did you?"

Dick shrugged. "Not a whole lot of TVs where I came from."

Jason sighed. "Because there's one prince and a hundred birds."

Dick got it then. "Princes are overrated."

At least it got a smile out of Jason.

~~~

The client left and John came in with the keys to the handcuffs they'd used to keep him restrained. Normally they didn't need to. There was no point in fighting, after all. They'd drag him in here anyways, and the more he fought the harder it would be for them to do any preparation. It sucked, but it was easier to cooperate. It hurt less.

The handcuffs this time where a preference thing. No one had told him that, they rarely told him anything at all, but with the way the man had pulled on his wrists as if to hear the way the chains clinked together and pulled against the metal bar made it pretty obvious.

Dick sat up and rubbed his wrists. John threw him a small pile of clothes and a towel. "Follow me."

Nakedness was something he'd grown accustomed to here. Honestly, he'd been beneath enough men that he'd skipped humility entirely and went straight to fear. Fear of being taken advantage of, fear that the next person who saw him this way would put him on a bed and use him again.

The door opened to a small bathroom and John closed them in together. He didn't have the gun pulled but Dick knew it wouldn't take long for him to do so if he needed to. Dick only leaned forward and turned the water on. There was never much hot water but it did get almost lukewarm on a good day and today was an especially good day because Dick was pretty sure it was just the right side of lukewarm that it could almost be considered hot. He gasped in surprise before he could help himself and John chuckled. "Feel good?"

Dick hesitantly nodded and climbed into the bathtub. The water beat on his back and shoulders, loosening tense muscles from being restrained in the same position for an hour. It felt amazing in a way that Dick had not felt in a long time.

"You could have this more often," John said, from the other side of the curtain.

Dick said nothing as he leaned forward and tried to clean himself up as best he could.

"Did you hear me, Grayson?" John demanded.

Dick dragged one hand through his hair. "Yeah."

"Do you want this more often?" John asked.

There wasn't a damn good answer to that question. "Why?"

"Because the guards use the showers downstairs in the morning. By the time you little brats get to the water, it's damn near ice cold. But maybe I'm generous and I get you down there before the guards in the morning," John said.

The curtain was thin and Dick could see John grabbed his crotch and adjusting. His stomach twisted. "Why would you do that?"

"Because maybe I'm generous when you're generous. You catch my drift?" John asked.

Silence. Of course Dick caught his drift.

"Grayson, are you deaf?" John demanded.

Dick closed his eyes. That fear was back, fear of being naked and vulnerable. "What if I say no?"

"I don't get off on a whiny bitch," John said. "If you say no, then no. I'm just saying we could do each other a favor."

"No," Dick said. He opened his eyes and through the curtains the guard was tense.

When he chuckled, Dick jumped and almost slipped on the slick surface of the tub. John leaned against the door. "That's fine, kid. But if you change your mind, I'll be keeping an eye on you."

The words didn't seem to call for a reply so Dick didn't give one and as the silence stretched on it was clear that John didn't mind his quiet. Dick finished the shower quickly and grabbed the towel to dry off behind the curtain. He dressed in the cheap ill-fitting jeans and t-shirt and was led back upstairs to the room he shared with Jason.

The boy was sitting on the bed and looked up. Dick watched the way Jason's eyes looked over his body. Unlike John or any of the unnamed clients they paraded him through, Jason's eyes never made him feel sick. Only protected. Jason was looking in an attempt to find signs of injury or pain. Jason wanted to help. Dick walked over and sat down beside him.

"You okay?" Jason asked.

"I'm not going to lose it yet," Dick said with a smile.

Jason sighed and elbowed his side. "What are you going to do when you get out of here?"

Dick didn't even have to think about it. "I'm going to take a hot shower."

~~~

It was different this time. It was different and it scared Dick and he couldn't even place a finger on what was different about it.

They were taking Jason and Dick was never in his right head when that happened. Always worried about how they'd bring his only friend back. Jason was strong. He was a survivor. Still, there was only so much that one person could take and Dick didn't want to find out what Jason's breaking point would be. After all, Jason had been here longer than Dick had. He'd already suffered so much.

The door was shut and Dick waited because that was all Dick ever did. He waited to be taken away and he waited to be brought back, he waited when Jason was the one who was pulled out of the bedroom. He waited and waited and waited and-

Jason's screams started, loudly. Dick had got a glimpse out of a window once. There was no one for miles. The house was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the forest, so no one would hear them.

No one would hear Jason screaming.

Dick ran to the door, pulling on the handle. The deadbolt slammed back and forth against the wood but didn't give. He gave up on that route and threw his body against the door instead. The screams didn't end. "Jason!"

No answer.

"Jason!" Dick shouted.

No one came to the door to tell him to shut up or threaten him to get him to be a more cooperative prisoner. They let him batter the door with his body until he ran out of energy and sunk to the floor with tears streaming down his face. He couldn't even remember when he'd started crying, just that he had.

"Jason..." Dick whispered.

It was a rare moment when Dick could fool himself into thinking that he wasn't helpless, that he was more than just some play toy for people to buy and use as they saw fit. Here, now, that was ten times worse. It filled every pore with anger and desperation. He was trapped and Jason was in pain and there wasn't a damn thing that Dick could do to stop it.

He leaned against the door, flinching after long moments of silence where he dared to hope that his torturers had finally relented when Jason began screaming all over again. Eventually he stopped expecting it to be over and no longer jumped, but waited and anticipated the screaming to start again.

The footsteps on the stairs didn't even register until the key was in the door and Dick pulled back just in time for it to swing open and John carried Jason into the room. Frank stood guard at the door as John dropped Jason onto the mattress with little tenderness. The younger boy screamed again when his back hit the mattress, flailing as he rolled over and exposed the lines of red across his back. Dick's stomach churned from the sight. "Jason?"

Dick turned when the guards started towards the door. "Wait!"

John paused in the doorway and turned back around to look at Dick. "What?"

"He's going to bleed out," Dick said.

"So?" John asked, arching an eyebrow. "We'll come collect him in the morning then."

Dick scrambled to his feet. "But if you gave me some bandages or-"

"No one is wasting bandages on a whore," John replied. "Sit down and shut up."

Dick turned and looked at Jason, at the blood trailing down his back in rivulets. The guards were cold at the best of times, distant. Dick imagined that you had to be in order to sell children like prostitutes. Dick couldn't imagine that any of them could see the children here as human, something worth bandages.

Dick knelt down beside Jason and brushed his fingers through the young boy's hair. The door creaked as John started to close it and Dick found himself crossing a line he'd never thought he'd need to. "I changed my mind."

The creaking stopped. John stood in the doorway. "What?"

"I changed my mind. You said... you said if I changed my mind," Dick said. John had to go for this. He had to. He'd wanted it before and Dick wanted it now if it meant Jason could get the supplies he needed to heal up. "You said you could be generous if I could be generous and-"

"You want to sell yourself for bandages?" John asked, sounding more incredulous than Dick could begin to understand. As if a hot shower was the obvious price to use Dick's body and the life of another simply couldn't compare. Dick would rather have Jason than a thousand hot showers.

"Yes," Dick said, swallowing the bile in his throat. "Please."

Frank crossed his arms in the hallway. "You get caught with the merchandise and you're not taking me down with you."

John waved him away, eyes solely focused on Dick and narrowed. "Fine, brat. Come here."

Dick hated leaving Jason like this but it was for the better. If he left him now, he could come back and make the kid better. John pulled him out into the hallway and shut the door. Dick was pressed against the wall and the man leaned down to look him in the eyes. "You like that little brat, don't you?"

Dick knew how dangerous the answer was to that. If he said yes, then they knew. Maybe they already guessed but now they'd know how much Dick was willing to do for Jason. If he said no, then this deal was pointless and John would know he was lying. He swallowed hard and nodded.

"You're going to get on your knees for me, pretty boy," John said. "Suck me down real nice and I'll get you some bandages _and_ some antibiotics. I can be real nice if you are. Can you be nice?"

Dick nodded again. Antibiotics. Dick hadn't even thought about that. The rooms were dirty. Jason probably had a huge risk of infection. "I can be nice."

John slapped his cheek lightly. "I'll just bet you can be. Get on your knees, bitch, and open up wide."

Dick glanced at Frank who was standing at the top of the staircase. He watched the guard roll his eyes before starting down. Then it was Dick and John and Dick hesitated before sliding down onto the wooden floorboards and using his hands to undo the zipper and button on the front of the guard's pants.

~~~

Dick was awake when Jason roused to consciousness once more. He'd passed out sometime between Dick leaving the room with John and when he'd finally been allowed to come back with the supplies necessary. Since John was trying to hide this, apparently, from the higher ups that Frank seemed so concerned about pleasing Dick hadn't been allowed to brush his teeth. What was left was a nasty taste in his mouth that was predominantly salty but better than the taste of vomit he'd be left with if he really thought too hard about why his mouth tasted the way it did.

"Jason?" He asked softly. He knew the boy needed his rest and regretted trying to wake him as soon as he opened his mouth.

The other boy lifted his head up, blinking. "Dickie?"

Dick crawled across the floor to be closer to Jason and nodded. "Yeah, Jay. I'm here."

Jason slid one arm under himself. He started to push up and then gasped when the arch of his back must have pulled at the lashes from the whip. "Jesus _fuck_."

Dick grimaced in sympathy. "You should probably just lay down."

Jason slumped back onto the bed, turning his face to look at Dick and resting his cheek against the mattress. "What happened?"

Dick shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not entirely sure. They dragged you out and you started screaming-"

"They called him a clown," Jason said, and then corrected, " _The_  clown. He was smiling."

Dick watched Jason shudder. "You don't have to talk about it."

"He whipped me," Jason whispered.

Dick felt guilty for wishing that Jason would stop talking about it. This was a safe place, they didn't ruin their safe place by corrupting it with the terrors that went on in this place. "I'm sorry."

Jason closed his eyes, shaking his head minutely. "It's not your fault."

Dick wasn't so sure about that. Perhaps it was coincidence, but Dick had just turned John down not too long ago. This horrible event had put Dick in a position from which he couldn't say no any longer.

"Did they bandage me?" Jason asked.

"No. I did," Dick said. "John brought me supplies and I wrapped the bandages around your chest. I have antibiotics too. You have to take them twice a day. I figure...once after lights out and once after lights on." There wasn't really another way to tell time.

Jason nodded and then his forehead creased. "I'm surprised they gave you anything."

Dick could taste the lie in his mouth with the taste of John. "I guess you're worth too much for that. Can't sell us if we're dead."

Jason snorted. "Thanks, Dickie. For taking care of me."

"Always," Dick replied. "You're my best friend."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a couple of things to say. First of all, thank you all for putting up with me during November. I was working on my NaNo work and so everything else had to get shoved to the backburner. However, now that November is over we should be back to regular-ish updates. To everyone who waited patiently, thank you.
> 
> Second of all, I'd like to personally thank jellyfishphat for making a beautiful piece of fanart inspired by this fic, "his wings are clipped and his feet are tied". You can find that piece of art [here](http://jellyfishphat.tumblr.com/post/153896107379/fanart-for-zillabird-because-shes-incredible), her ao3 [here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfishphat/pseuds/jellyfishphat), and her tumblr [here](http://jellyfishphat.tumblr.com/). Go give them some love.
> 
> Finally:
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS: Kidnapping, Threats of Violence, Threats of Sexual Violence, Threats of Rape, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Forced Prostitution
> 
> If I've missed anything or you think something should have been tagged that isn't, /please/ contact me so I can fix that.
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> EDIT: I debated whether or not to put the actual photo here in the author's note because I wanted to direct traffic to said artist's blog. Given the artist's permission, I've elected to add it on. If at any point jellyfishphat decides they would like it removed, I would be more than happy to do so. With that being said, once again full credit of this image to jellyfishphat. One amazing artist who honestly made my day.
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Jason should have figured it out sooner. It took months, probably. Maybe longer than that because it was subtle. There were bandages if he got hurt and sometimes there was a little more food if Jason’s stomach started growling in pain. This time a blanket after Jason mentioned that his toes were poking out of the holes during the middle of the night.

It probably took so long because Jason was always so grateful for whatever new luxury they’d received that he didn’t question where or why it came to them.

That was a mistake, because when he finally did start figuring it out it had been going on for so long. It had something to do with the way Dick was never surprised.

Even still, Jason waited before he brought anything up. Selfishly, he could admit, but things were good when a new blanket showed up. Sometimes they were vastly overworked and the extra food was more necessary than Jason wanted to admit, than he wanted to think about. Dick wasn’t surprised but he also wasn’t upset, and didn’t that mean things were good enough?

Jason couldn’t leave it that way forever.

“Dick,” Jason said. He was stretched out on his back on the bed. He’d gained a couple of inches in the past year since Dick had moved into the house. Now he took up most of the bed lengthwise and Dick had taken to sitting on the floor with the edge of the mattress at his back. His head laid comfortably on Jason’s stomach. “Did you know we were getting a new blanket?”

Dick tipped his head back to look at Jason. “What?”

“Did you know we were getting a new blanket?” Jason asked. “When John brought the blanket in, I guess you just didn’t look all that surprised.”

“I mean, ours was looking kind of awful,” Dick said. “Like a furry piece of Swiss cheese. Didn’t do much to keep the cold out. Spreading our legs still isn’t sexy if we’re coughing and sneezing from a cold or flu.”

That made sense. “What about the food?”

“You’ve grown at least four inches in the past year,” Dick said. “Starving you would stunt your growth.” A mock gasp. “You’d be stuck as a midget forever!”

“Shut up, stupid,” Jason said, slapping Dick on the back of the head.

Dick laughed and laid his head back down. Silence filled the room and minutes passed before Jason realized that Dick had done a particularly good job of distracting him. He reached down and brushed strands of silky black hair off of Dick’s face. “Dickie?”

“Yeah, Jay,” Dick replied.

“Do you know something I don’t?” Jason asked.

Dick’s lips quirked. “I know a lot of things you don’t.”

“I’m serious,” Jason said.

Dick seemed to intentionally avoid looking at him. “What are you asking?”

“How did you know that we were getting those things?” Jason asked.

Dick sighed. “We were doing so well, Jason. Just drop it.”

Please. Jason could hear the word at the end even if Dick didn’t actually say it.

“What did you do, Dickie?” Jason asked.

Dick rolled over to face the door instead of Jason’s face. “I did what he wanted me to.”

“He…” Jason pressed.

“John,” Dick filled in. “He offered to make things better.”

“Dick-“

“I said no,” Dick interrupted. “And then they took you away that night and you screamed. I could hear you for _hours_ just screaming and screaming. They brought you back and there was blood everywhere. I knew you were going to die and John… he had offered to make things better. I needed supplies for you.”

Jason squeezed his eyes shut. “Dickie…”

“It’s not so bad. He doesn’t make it hurt,” Dick said.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s bad enough that they’re forcing you to sleep with other people but now you-“ Jason started.

Dick interrupted him again. “Now I get to decide.” He shrugged one shoulder and the fingertips on Jason’s hip fell away. “The first time was for bandages, but John let me earn a blanket and food. I got a warm shower a couple of days ago. You could have one too but I was worried about how you’d react so-“

“I don’t want a hot shower,” Jason snapped. The bite to his tone had Dick sitting up and looking back at him. “I don’t want anything that involves you voluntarily spreading your legs for one of them.”

Dick reared back like Jason had slapped him. “You don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

“I just don’t understand why you would let him convince you to… to _volunteer_ to be a whore,” Jason said. He reached up and cradled Dick’s cheeks between his hands. “Why would you draw his attention like that? Once you start, you can’t stop.”

Not here. There was no place to run, no place to hide. The first time Dick told John no – the guard would know exactly how to make Dick desperate enough to keep bargaining. Throwing Jason to the wolves would force Dick to cooperate.

Dick realized this had nothing to do with Jason looking down on him and everything to do with Jason worrying that Dick couldn’t extricate himself out of the situation.

“You were going to bleed to death right in front of me and there was nothing I could do. John was only solution,” Dick whispered. He tipped his head to lean it into Jason’s hand. “When it seems like it’s been a little while, I make another deal. Keep him happy, keep him from thinking he needs to strike out. It’s really not so bad, Jason. He doesn’t hurt me. And anything else just doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said just as quietly.

“I never regretted it,” Dick assured him. He laid his head back down on Jason’s stomach.

Jason had never been worth much of anything to anyone. Not to his father, as he’d been told by the man himself plenty of times, and not to the mother who had chosen drugs and being high over staying with her young son who needed her. Dick was the first person to really give a damn about Dick, and Jason would do anything to protect that.

~~~

Anything.

They dragged Jason out and slammed the door shut behind them. Dick didn’t fight. They were past fighting. It got them nowhere. Jason could hear him stand, however, and the creak of wooden floorboards under his bare feet as Dick went to the door to listen. Then John locked it and Frank pushed Jason towards the stairs. “Walk.” They seemed nervous. It was contagious and Jason grew wary.

In a matter of a very short time, Jason had shot up in inches. He was as tall as Dick and would overtake the older boy’s slowing rate of growth soon. He was nearly as tall as a lot of his clients and almost as tall as the guards. Between that and the light exercise Jason had taken to in order to put some muscle on his bones, he was not the little kid they’d been pushing around even just one year ago. But he was underfed, outmanned, and outgunned.

One of the other guards, Eric, picked up a pile of clothes and threw it at Jason. It hit him in the chest and Jason scrambled to grab them to keep them from falling on the floor. “Change.”

Jason set the clothes down on the kitchen table and immediately stripped of his shirt. If they had wanted him to change elsewhere, they’d have directed him to change elsewhere. Modesty was a joke anymore. The guards had seen him spread out under countless clients and this was far less degrading. The new clothes were actually dirtier than what he’d been wearing before. Jason wasn’t sure what kind of fucked up request that was but he didn’t have high hopes about the client he was being sent to.

“Get the car started,” Frank ordered Eric. The man nodded and the front door clicked shut as he left.

Jason’s head snapped up. A car? A car meant someone was going somewhere, leaving the house. The guards were mobilizing and suddenly the anxiousness that Jason had picked up on made sense. Frank caught the change in Jason’s posture and stalked over. Jason stumbled backing away from him but Frank still caught him, grabbing Jason by the front of his shirt. “Don’t even think about it, Todd.”

Don’t think about the first breath of fresh air he was getting in three years? Don’t think about the first chance at freedom he would see since he’d been dragged to this hellhole? How could anyone not immediately think about that?

“Remember Grayson upstairs? The pretty little piece of ass upstairs keeping your room warm?” Frank demanded. He was so close Jason could smell cigarette smoke on his breath. “You gonna run without him, dumbass?”

Reality crashed down on him. Frank was right. Dick was locked upstairs, a sitting duck for the guards. Running would just succeed in leaving Dick with a bunch of very pissed off guards.

Jason shook his head until Frank let go and shoved him back. Jason’s shoulders hit the wall. Frank watched Jason swallow nervously and then turned his attention back to the two guards sitting at the table. “Riley is on call. If you have any problems, call him first. Todd, move towards the door. You make any sudden movements and I’m going to break your damn leg, you understand me?”

“Yeah,” Jason mumbled. He followed after Frank as he buttoned up the ratty, old jeans. They were too tight in the waist but he supposed as long as he wasn’t in danger of passing out, Frank probably didn’t give a flying fuck if he was uncomfortable.

Frank opened the door after putting his hand on the butt of his gun and grabbed Jason’s neck with his other hand as they walked outside.

Jason’s guess on the days must have been off because the ground was wet and muddy, wildflowers bursting out in bunches between the trees of the forest and along the sides of the dirt path leading away from the house. He inhaled deeply and tasted the recent rain on his tongue and the sweetness of the flowers. Springtime.

Jason had thought it was still winter. “What month is it?”

“The fuck do you care?” John asked.

Frank pushed him towards the car and then inside. Eric was up front, driving, and Frank and John got in on either side of him. Frank had already made his point on the subject so Jason wasn’t entirely sure what the point of boxing him in was.

“Did you tell him?” Eric asked from the front.

Unless, there was worse to come.

“Shut up and drive. I’ll tell him on the way,” Frank said.

Eric shrugged and put the car into drive. Jason glanced at Frank out of the corner of his eye, the man watching the passing trees through the tinted windows, and then at John who appeared to be reading a text message on his phone. Jason thought he saw the word honey and love in the quick movements of his thumbs and it made him sick. Sick that John could have someone who cared about him, was in love with him, and at the same time could convince Dick to sleep with him. Jason doubted John’s honey on the other end of the phone knew the man bedded down with a seventeen year old.

“Listen up, Todd,” Frank ordered, dragging Jason’s attention back to him. “One of the rooms has an occupancy. Kid aged up. He’s out of the house, bound for private sale or street work. Wherever the fuck he’s going, he has to be replaced.”

Jason’s eyes flickered over Frank’s face. “I don’t get it.”

“That’s because you’re dumb,” John said.

Frank shot a look to John that silenced him. “Todd, you’re going to go in and you’re going to convince some kid to follow you out. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Jason tensed. Apparently so much so that even John put down his phone to put his hand on his gun. He reared back. “I’m not grabbing you sick fucks another plaything.”

Frank also had his hand on his gun but he looked remarkably calmer than John did. “You need to get your priorities straight, Jason. You don’t know this kid-“

“Or what?” Jason demanded. No wonder they had boxed him in. “You’ve already made me turn tricks, let some psycho torture me.”

Frank smacked his cheek. The crack sounded too loud in the car and the resulting silence made the quiet oldies tunes from the radio sound almost ominous. “Calm down, Todd. I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about Grayson. You fuck this up for us and I swear to God I will hunt you down and then drag you back just so you can watch me pass Grayson around like a goddamn fucking party favor to the guards. You think I’m playing right now? John can get him on his knees just for a new blanket. When I drag you back, I could have him begging each and every one of them to use him and thanking you for it.”

Jason could taste bile in the back of his throat. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Does it look like I care?” Frank asked. “What’s it going to be?”

Defiance forced him to keep eye contact. The memory of Dick curled up asleep beside him gave him the strength to fight that defiance and lower his eyes. He nodded. “I’ll do it.”

Frank waited a beat and then faced the front. John as jostled by John’s elbow bumping into his side. He faced him reluctantly and clenched his jaw at the smug look on his face. “Probably for the best, Todd. Our boy is too pretty to be treated like a cheap whore. Besides, Frank is vicious. Vindictive. He wouldn’t take a damn bit of _actual_ pleasure from him, he’d just get his jollies off of making you pay for fucking things up with the bosses.”

Frank rolled his eyes but Jason was more focused on John who made rage well up in his blood. He pulled away.

“Of course, he does beg so pretty and-“ John cut off when Jason coiled to attack. John wasn’t even fazed. In fact, he chuckled. “Go on, Todd. Attack me. The first bruise you lay on me gives me open opportunity to teach you a lesson. I could Dickie boy on his knees begging just for the _chance_ to protect you.”

And Dick would. Jason knew he would. He would panic and John would fan that fire until it consumed Dick and he was willing to give John anything he wanted.

Jason forced every tense, anger-filled muscle to relax even as John laughed again from his side of the car. Jason couldn’t protect Dick from John, not as long as Dick was making deals with him like this. But one day… one day Jason was going to wring this fucker’s neck for putting Dick in this position.

The trees faded and they hit a country road. Far off in the distance, Jason could see the tallest buildings of Gotham. Jason’s hometown right there on the horizon.

“Keep your eyes down, Todd,” Frank ordered. Jason obeyed, dropping his head and drilling a hole into the floor with his gaze.

It took everything in Jason to lure the young, dark-haired, blue eyed boy out of the homeless shelter. It took everything to keep his mouth shut like he knew well to do, or risk Dick. The boy followed him all too eagerly because, much like Dick, he was stupid. So goddamn stupid. So easy to convince that there was something better to chase after. They looked a little alike, actually. The boy, Tim he’d introduced himself as, and Dick. Good, clean kids that didn’t have an ounce of streetwise in them.

Jason was protecting Dick. He had to remember that.

“I wonder why this place is less crowded,” the kid said. _Tim_ , Jason forced himself to correct again. Even if it would be so much easier to pretend the kid hadn’t introduced himself, wasn’t a name, Jason had to do better than these fuckers who used them without even knowing their names. He had to treat this kid as a person. Tim deserved that much.

They approached the SUV and Jason risked whispering, “I’m sorry.”

It earned him a look of confusion before the doors opened and John grabbed a handful of the kid’s hair and dragged him towards the car. He slapped a hand over the boy’s mouth before he could scream and Jason couldn’t resist jolting forward. Frank grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back into his arms, one arm wrapping around Jason’s chest. “Priorities, Todd. Remember your priorities. Pretty boy back home needs you to stay focused.”

Jason looked away as they forced the boy into the car. He fought, he fought hard, but he wasn’t a match to a man twice his size. Guilt twisted his insides.

Frank shoved Jason forward. “Get in the car.”

Jason climbed in and sat down. The boy was still fighting but John was wrestling him into a pair of handcuffs. There was a bruise blooming on his cheek in purples and greens. He caught Jason’s eyes. “Why?”

John struck the toe of his boot into Tim’s stomach. Jason cringed. “They have someone I care about. I’m sorry. I’m-“

“Shut up, Todd,” Frank cut him off.

Jason swallowed and waited for Frank to look away to mouth, “I’m sorry.”

John covered his mouth with a couple of pieces of duct tape. The kid couldn’t speak but he nodded. He understood.

That might have been worse. Jason closed his eyes. It would be easier if Tim hated him because this understanding made Jason feel all the more guilty. He’d become just as bad as they were, just as bad as the people who orchestrated this nightmare. Frank squeezed Jason’s shoulder. “Focus on what’s important. Focus on getting to him.”

So Jason did.

~~~

When Frank opened the door again, Dick ran to him and there were suddenly lips pressed against Jason’s. Chapped and worried, tasting of dried blood where Jason knew Dick had bitten into them while waiting for Jason to come back. Jason kissed back, wrapping his hands around Dick’s upper arms to squeeze them tight and pull Dick closer. It wasn’t the carefully guided kisses of the clients sick enough to expect that sort of intimacy. This was desperate and sloppy. Jason’s lips were wet and then tasted salty from Dick’s blood and tears.

“Are you okay?” Dick asked. “Lewis told me you might not come back.”

“I’m…” Jason trailed off. Tim’s bright blue eyes, so desperate as they looked up at him from the floor of the car as they drove away from any potential help, flashed in his mind. He didn’t finish, couldn’t lie to Dick like that. Instead, he pulled him closer again, though he laid his head against Dick’s shoulder and neck instead of kissing him. They were just a couple of kids, though Dick was fast approaching adulthood now, and intimacy was as much a desire as it was a nightmare. Love and affection was something they wished for as much as it sent them cringing from the hands of others.

Frank snorted and closed the door. This was only making it worse. They’d threatened Dick to get Jason to cooperate and the more they cared about each other, the more they’d be able to do that.

Knowing that changed nothing.

“Jason?” Dick asked.

Jason cleared his throat. “They took me out of the house.”

Dick pulled back enough to look Jason in the eye. “They did what?”

“Frank and John and Eric,” Jason said. “They took me out of the house. We went into Gotham again.”

“Why didn’t you-“

“Don’t say it, Dick. Don’t say it like you don’t know why I didn’t- _couldn’t_ run,” Jason said. “They threatened you. They told me they’d pass you around and make you-“ He cut off. “I couldn’t run, Dickie. That’s not important.”

Dick’s lips pressed together, a far more serious expression than he usually wore. It made him look older. Jason forgot he was seventeen, eighteen soon because he could be so lighthearted.

“They told me to grab another boy,” Jason said. “I’m just as bad as they are, Dick. I helped and-“

Dick pressed their lips together softly. He cupped Jason’s cheeks in his hands. “Jay, no. It’s not your fault.”

“They’re going to sell him. They’re going to rape him and I picked him because he was like _you_ , because I knew you could be talked into leaving with me and so could this _kid_ ,” Jason said, breaths coming shorter and shallower. His pupils were blown when he looked at Dick. “I did that.”

“Jason,” Dick breathed, pulling him against him. The younger boy shook in Dick’s arms.

Hours later, Dick had guided Jason onto the mattress with him and laid them down together. Jason fell asleep when he tired himself out and not a moment sooner. Dick stayed awake after the lights turned off, stroking Jason’s hair in the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-Con, Implied/Referenced Forced Prostitution, Threats of Violence, Non-Consensual Exhibitionism

It had been a long time since Dick had felt like a child. Today was the first time he’d felt like an adult.

For the most part, the guards never let them interact with the other kids there. If they didn’t _mention_ the other children, Dick wouldn’t have probably known they were there at all. Not until Dick was pulling his jeans back over his hips and watching them take down the video camera when the door opened and Riley guided in a young blonde girl. Maybe thirteen or fourteen.

Thirteen or fourteen years old.

Dick felt ancient in comparison. He only had four or five years on her, just about, but he might as well have had decades on her for all he felt. God, she was a baby. She had no business being here, used this way. He gaped, standing, and before the thought even formed in his mind Frank was there to grab his chin and drag his eyes over. “Don’t.”

“Sorry, Frank. Thought the room was clear,” Riley said.

“Obviously not. Put her on ice for five while I get Grayson out of here,” Frank snapped.

Riley pulled her back and the door shut behind him.

Dick was eye level with Frank. He had been for some time now but it hit him all at once that he was eye level. Still helpless but eye level and that meant something. He met his gaze. “She’s a child.”

“You’re all children,” Frank said. “Were children. No one cares.”

“She’s what? Fourteen?” Dick demanded.

“Twelve,” Frank replied.

Dick’s stomach rebelled. He took a step back, sucking in air. A twelve-year-old _child_ sold out as a prostitute. His legs gave out and he sat down on the bed. Dick was almost eighteen and he was letting a twelve-year-old girl be raped and abused?

“Now is not the time for you to grow a conscience,” Frank said. “I don’t have time for this today.”

“I’m sorry,” Dick said sarcastically. “I’ll schedule my guilt for a Tuesday.”

“Today is Tuesday,” Frank replied.

Dick barked out a sharp laugh. “She should be in sixth grade.”

“She doesn’t need an education to spread her legs,” Frank replied. Dick’s gaze snapped up. Frank uncrossed his arms and his right hand rested casually on the gun at his hip. “Kid, you’re all replaceable. She is. You are. Todd most definitely is.”

Dick wasn’t even surprised by the threat. They used it anytime Dick even remotely stepped out of line and this was more than that. This was Dick’s mind finally catching up to his almost grown body.

“She’s a kid,” Dick said softly.

“So you’ve said,” Frank replied.

“Jason is a kid. And she is and the boy that Jason… the boy you made Jason kidnap,” Dick said. Frank didn’t say anything. Dick looked down at his hands in his lap and asked, “How much longer do I have?”

The kids were so young here. There were no adults in the bedrooms.

Dick was met with silence until he looked up and Frank’s arms were crossed over his chest again. “About four, five months at most.”

“And then?” Dick asked.

“Private sale or street work. Figure, pretty as you are, you’ll probably end up at an auction. End up as someone’s private bedwarmer,” Frank said. “But you’ll be out of the house.”

“And Jason?” Dick asked.

“They’ll keep him in the house until he looks too old to stay. Then he’ll age out,” Frank said.

“To street work?” Dick asked.

Frank arched an eyebrow. “He’s been flagged for a different line of work, so no.”

“Auction?” Dick asked.

“No. Something else,” Frank said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m worried,” Dick said.

“Don’t,” Frank repeated. “It’s not going to change anything.”

“Doing what we were told, protecting each other, it was for nothing,” Dick murmured.

“You protected him this long,” Frank said. “Maybe that means something.”

They were going to pull Dick out of the house. Jason would be alone to do whatever Frank didn’t want to tell Dick about. Dick would be kept on someone else’s leash until he died or they grew bored of him.

Dick stood. It was even slow and Frank still tensed. “I’m not going to do anything.” Not now, while his good behavior kept Jason on their nice list. “Do you know what the date is?”

“Why?” Frank asked.

“Because I want to know what the date is,” Dick said.

“December twenty-sixth,” Frank said.

Yesterday Dick sucked some guy off and Jason got pulled out of their room twice. “What a way to celebrate Christmas.”

“You asked,” Frank said.

Logically Dick had known that they’d spent a couple of Christmases in here at least but he’d sort of assumed that it was one of those days they were left alone. Not that he was someone’s Christmas present to themselves.

He twisted around and kicked the bed, shoving it a few inches and into the wall. Dick heard Frank pull his gun and lifted his hands up. “I’m done.”

“You stupid son of a bitch,” Frank snapped. “You want to get yourself killed?”

No. Dick had fought so hard for so long he couldn’t just give up now with a bullet to the brain. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and repeated. “I’m done.”

Frank holstered the gun again. “Put your goddamn hands down. I swear to god if you try something stupid on the way back, I’ll fuck your boy up myself. That fucking clown isn’t going to have anything on me when I’m done with him.”

“I’m not going to do anything,” Dick said.

“Damn fucking straight,” Frank said. He shoved Dick out of the room to walk him back upstairs.

~~~

“You’re quiet tonight,” Jason said.

Dick hummed in response.

“Normally I can’t you to shut up about questions like do penguins dream and how do sloths bathe,” Jason said. “Tonight you’ve taken a vow of silence or something.”

“I’m thinking,” Dick said.

“Well, don’t hurt yourself,” Jason said. “I can see the smoke coming out of your ears.”

Dick rolled his eyes and then rolled over entirely.

The mattress creaked as Jason rolled closer. “Dickie?”

“I’m fine, Jay,” Dick said. “I’m just thinking.”

“About?” Jason asked.

“Christmas,” Dick said, finally.

“Why?” Jason asked with a note of dryness to his tone. “Are you thinking of getting me something?”

“It was yesterday,” Dick replied.

Silence met the answer and Dick knew Jason was thinking the same as he had. What they’d done yesterday. That was Christmas.

“Those… those _fuckers_ ,” Jason breathed.

“I’m sorry,” Dick said.

“It’s not your fault that they fucking sold us on Christmas of all goddamn days. Not a fucking shred of human decency,” Jason said. “These people are fucking monsters.”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry I told you,” Dick said.

“Dickie…” Jason trailed off.

“Frank told me downstairs. They brought a girl in as I was getting dressed and she was so young, Jason. She was so young and I’m…” Dick trailed off.

“And you’re…” Jason trailed off.

Dick closed his eyes. “I’m tired, Jay. I just want to sleep for a little while. You know I don’t like bringing things in here.”

“If you need to talk-“

“I don’t,” Dick said.

“I’m just saying it might help to-“

“It won’t,” Dick said.

The mattress creaked again as Jason laid back down. “Goodnight, Dickie.”

“Night,” Dick whispered.

If today was December twenty-sixth, Dick had exactly eighty five days until he turned eighteen. An adult, and shortly after that he’d have to leave Jason. He’d fight and he knew Jason would fight but he’d never been strong enough to get away and he wouldn’t suddenly be strong enough now.

~~~

“You want a hot shower, Grayson?” John asked.

Dick shook his head. He couldn’t deal with giving the payment John charged right now.

Fingers wrapped around Dick’s wrist and he was suddenly face to face with John looking irritated. “Something wrong, babe? I thought we could have a little Valentine’s Day celebration. You’ve been a little cold these past couple of months.”

Had it been so long since Dick had slept with John? Usually Dick was better about keeping track of that. He had to keep John happy to keep him from lashing out against Jason. Dick couldn’t keep moping. He had something he could do to protect Jason for a little longer. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” John said. He pushed Dick back against the wall and slid his hand up under Dick’s t-shirt. Then lower to slip his fingers under the waistband of his pants. “Be nicer.”

Dick swallowed and nodded. He opened his mouth to speak and John covered it with his own. Dick met the kiss, knowing better that John preferred it when he was active. “I don’t want a shower, John. Can I have something else?”

John rolled his eyes and pushed Dick’s pants down. “What do you want?”

“I want you to tell me what they’re planning to do with Jason when he ages up,” Dick said.

John’s hand stilled and he looked up slowly. “Who told you?”

Dick’s eyes flickered over John’s face and he put his hand on John’s upper arm as he tried to keep things laid back. “Frank just said that he was flagged for something other than private sale and street work.”

“Sounds like Frank talks too much,” John said.

“You’re not going to tell me,” Dick said, sounding disappointed.

John used his free hand to cup Dick’s cheek, his ring pressing cold against his skin. “Trust me, kid. You don’t want to know.”

Dick stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you don’t need to worry about it,” John said.

Dick’s heart rabbited in his chest. “John, please.”

John sighed and pressed his mouth against Dick’s neck and whispered under his ear. “You tell anyone I told you this and I’ll make sure you and the boy pay for this.”

Dick swallowed and nodded. “I understand.”

“Good,” John said. “You know Frank’s a little different?”

Dick wasn’t sure what this had to do with Jason but he shrugged and then nodded. He didn’t bed with any of them, Dick knew that much.

“Frank started out doing the same thing you do,” John said. “He doesn’t talk about it and neither does anyone else – at least, not in front of him. But he was on his back before they gave him a gun. He flagged your boy for the same thing. Guess he sees some of himself in Todd or…fuck, I don’t know. But you can trust that in a few short years, Todd will be perfectly capable of guarding his own ass.”

Dick stiffened. “He’s not that kind of person, John. He’s not going to do what you want him to.” And Jason would pay for that. They would try to beat it into him or threaten it into him and eventually he would either break or they’d have to kill him.

Dick shifted and John slammed him back into the wall. Hard enough to make his teeth snap together and draw attention from the other guard who wandered into the room. John’s eyes narrowed and he kept his voice lowered. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Now, I gave you what you said you wanted and it’s your turn to pay up.”

Dick glanced up at Riley, the guard who was leaning against the wall with an amused smile. “John-“

“You should be used to having an audience. Shut up and strip,” John ordered.

Dick hesitated for a moment more, nodded, and then moved to obey.

~~~

“John told me that you used to be one of us,” Dick said.

Frank’s eyes darkened. He grabbed Dick’s arm and dragged him into one of the rooms. The door slammed closed. “John needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. Be smarter than John, okay Grayson? ‘Cause if I find out you were talking, I’m going to beat the shit out of you bad enough you’re going to _wish_ you were back to spreading your legs.”

“How can you do this after it’s been done to you?” Dick demanded.

“Because unlike you, I learned my goddamn lessons,” Frank said. “That’s why people like me and Jason get out and people like you keep spreading their legs.”

Dick pulled his arm out of Frank’s grip. “Don’t even pretend. I’ve heard too many people tell me how pretty I am to think it’s got anything to do with how I act.”

Frank didn’t grab him again. “Shut up, kid. There are worse fates than yours. You’re going to be someone’s pampered pet. Some of these kids are going to end up hooked on drugs and passed around on the street corners until they die from an alphabet soup of contracted diseases.”

“Or turned into the same kinds of monsters that abused them in the first place?” Dick demanded.

Frank sneered. “Don’t judge me. The guards who watched me pulled me out of this shit. I haven’t had someone touch me without consent since I was younger than you are. I did what I had to in order to get out of this.”

“Jason won’t do that,” Dick said. “He won’t hurt others to protect himself.”

“He will after they ship you out,” Frank said. “Trust me. He’ll crack and the people in charge, people above me before you get any ideas, will slip in and offer him a way out. And he’ll take it because this is a death sentence. The moment you leave, you might as well be dead to him and he knows that. So he’ll jump at the chance to escape.”

Because they would take the only escape he’d had by taking Dick.

“How do you sleep at night?” Dick asked.

Frank snorted. “I don’t, Grayson, not without a heavy dose of sleeping pills. But I’m still alive so I guess that’s something.” He opened the door. “We’re going back to your room. I don’t want to hear any more about this.”

Dick wondered what those words would sound like coming out of Jason’s mouth.

~~~

“You’re an asshole,” Jason said.

Dick looked up. He had one knee pulled up to his chest and an arm wrapped around it. Jason, on the other hand, was standing in the center of the room with his arms crossed.

He was taller than Dick now. Barely, but he’d finally reached the last few inches that he needed to put him over Dick.

“What?” Dick asked.

“I said, you’re an asshole,” Jason repeated. “When you came I thought I’d have someone I could trust in. Someone who wasn’t going to let them break them. Now we’ve been here for years and all of the sudden I’m just watching you die.”

Dick rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m not dying, Jason.”

“Really? In the last few months you’ve lost weight, you don’t sleep. The nightmares are getting worse, which is dumb because I’m the one they keep shipping to that psycho to cut up,” Jason said. “I’m the one who kidnapped some kid who’s in this house now probably getting split open by some jerk with too much money and not enough of a conscience.” Dick cringed and Jason barked out a laugh. “You used to be better at covering that.”

Dick looked away. “I’m just tired.”

“You made me care,” Jason said. “If you were going to let them break you, you shouldn’t have let it get this far.” A pause. “Do you have any idea how much it hurts to watch this and know that there’s nothing I can do?”

Dick lowered his eyes. “You don’t understand.”

“Don’t you dare. No one understands better than I do what happens here and you-“

“You have no idea!” Dick shouted. Jason went quiet, probably out of shock. Until that point, Dick didn’t realize how quiet he’d been for the past few months. “You have no idea, Jason. I’m an adult.” He smiled and it was bitter, so bitter. “Happy birthday to me, right? As of today, I’m eighteen years old. I’m sure you didn’t get me a present but that’s fine because I guess I’m getting a little old for that.”

Jason’s face tightened around the eyes. “Dickie, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Because the kicker is that after all of this, after selling myself to John and following all of their orders to spread my legs just so that we could keep each other, they are going to age me out of the house,” Dick said. He dragged his gaze away from Jason’s face, the slow realization that Dick just couldn’t watch. “Frank says I’m pretty enough to make it to private auction. I guess maybe it’ll be better to only have to sleep with one person on command than letting them turn me out as a hooker on the street.”

“They can’t take you away,” Jason said.

Dick pulled himself up to his feet and grabbed Jason’s hands. He pulled him close and embraced him, laying his own head on Jason’s shoulder. “They can. They will.” He closed his eyes. “And that’s not all.”

“How can it get worse?” Jason demanded.

“Frank used to be one of us,” Dick said. He shrugged. “I don’t know if it was this house, probably not, but he was one of the kids.”

Jason reared back. “Did he suddenly realize he got his kicks off on watching people get raped?”

“No,” Dick said. Frank had never seemed to enjoy any of it. He would threaten, beat, and manhandle but he never took any sexual pleasure out of their suffering. Not like John did. It made so much sense now. It made it so much easier to see how Jason could end up like that. “They offered to let him be a guard to get out of the bedroom.”

“Fucker,” Jason cursed.

“They’re going to make you the same offer,” Dick said.

Jason scowled. “Well, I’m not taking it. Once was bad enough.”

“They might kill you,” Dick said.

“Then let them kill me,” Jason said. “I’m not becoming one of these psychopaths.”

Dick pressed his lips against Jason’s. They didn’t do that often but when they did it didn’t stop feeling good just because a thousand other people had done it.

“Don’t kiss me like that,” Jason said when Dick pulled back again.

Dick looked up and Jason was staring so intently at him. “Like what?”

“Like you’re preparing to say goodbye,” Jason said softly.

“I love you,” Dick said, instead of denying the truth.

“Don’t be stupid,” Jason said, pulling Dick into his arms and leaning his cheek on the top of the older man’s head. He couldn’t just let them take Dick away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter in this work. After that you'll have to keep an eye on the series for the next part. Just keeping you all updated.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this update has been a long time coming. I'm hoping now that I have my laptop back I'll be much better about getting them out.
> 
> PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS!!!!
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS: Explicit Rape Scene, Mutual Non-Con, Nonconsensual Exhibitionism, Threats of Violence, Mentions of Suicide
> 
> AGAIN, there is an /explicit rape scene/ in this chapter. It is graphic. If this is not something you can stomach, please DO NOT READ.

“Todd,” John barked. He stood in the doorway with his hand on the gun on his hip.

Jason sighed and squeezed back when Dick squeezed his hand gently in silent support. He stood and followed John out into the hallway. The door was closed and locked behind them and then John put his hand on Jason’s neck to guide him down the stairs. “Move.”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing, dickwad?” Jason muttered. That earned him a hard smack to the back of his head.

Jason hadn’t ever been in this room before, but he was usually guided from his and Dick’s room to the bedroom and then back. Or, on a bad day, to the room Joker ripped him apart for shits and giggles. There was a pipe coming up the back wall and John pulled out a pair of handcuffs that jingled as he shook them. “Hands on either side of the pipe, Todd.”

This couldn’t be good. Jason leaned forward to follow instructions and John slid the cuffs behind the pipe. The click echoed in the empty room and then John pulled away. Instinct made Jason tug on the handcuffs but they held firm. He let his arms fall. “What’s this about?”

John leaned against the wall to Jason’s left, arms crossed over his chest and right leg crossed over the left. “Honestly? Keeping you out of the way, among other things.”

Jason’s stomach twisted. “Keeping me out of the way of…”

“Grayson’s time is up. They’ll be coming in to transfer him out. He’ll behave because we dragged you out and you can’t lose it at this crucial time of good behavior,” John said. He sighed. “It’s too bad. I’m going to miss him.”

Jason yanked hard on the cuffs, yanked and then pulled. He didn’t stop until the cuffs dug into his skin and red welled up. “No! No, damn you!” They weren’t going to break, and neither was this piece of shit pipe. He braced his hands against the wall again and pressed his forehead against the cold metal of the pipe. “You son of a bitch.”

They didn’t even give them the chance to say goodbye.

“You better put a bullet in me,” Jason growled. He pulled again and then looked up at John’s nonchalant expression. As if they didn’t both know he was getting off on watching Jason fall apart. “You better fucking put me down because I will never cooperate for you again. He was the only thing keeping me compliant, you guys made sure of that.”

“You think that’s noble or something? Nothing is going to change for him. He’ll still be on his back for some rich bastard,” John said. “Or on his knees. Maybe on his hands and knees. Our boy’s best feature is displayed nicely that way. Trust me.”  
  
Jason growled. How much time did Dick have left? Were they already here? Was Frank up there describing what they’d do to Jason now that they had him vulnerable if Dick disobeyed? Jason could _picture_ the look in Dick’s eyes, the hopelessness. He pulled again. “ _Please_ , don’t do this.”

“You beg very nicely,” John commented dryly.

“Please,” Jason repeated. “I can’t do this without him.” Jason felt raw. Open. Weak. This was too much to show them. “Let me take his place. Dick said… he said you’d flagged me for something else. Let me go to the auction and let him get out of the bedroom.”

John’s eyebrow arched. “What makes you think I can?”

“Dick and I look alike. We both have black hair, blue eyes. I saw the book once,” Jason said, regarding the binder of merchandise. “There are pictures but they’re old. I could pass for him.”

“What makes you think I _will_?” John countered this time.

“You’ve dealt with Dick,” Jason begged. “Deal with me this time. Whatever you want.”

“Anything?” John asked.

“Anything,” Jason agreed. He’d been hurt worse than John could ever begin to comprehend, debased and degraded in every way, shape, and form. There was nothing John could throw at him that Jason hadn’t already experienced a hundred times over and probably worse.

John was quiet for a moment. “What if I want to see you between his legs?”

Jason hadn’t expected that. There was no doubt in Jason’s mind what person John was referring to. While they’d never gone that far before, Jason had fantasized about being with Dick like that. A real first time for the both of them. A first time of their own volition…

John wanted to take that from them. But if it was over either way, if they never got to have that, then at least doing it in front of John would let Jason protect Dick. Jason nodded, slowly. “Just let me talk to him. I’ll explain and he’ll cooperate.”

John stepped towards Jason and grabbed his chin to tip his head up. “If you do this, you’re not going to tell him a damn thing.”

Jason resisted the urge to pull away from him. “I don’t understand.”

“Look, kid, if the boys and I wanted some kind of soft love making we’d go work in a porn shop,” John said. “You want to protect him, bend him over and give us a real show.”

“You want me to rape him,” Jason concluded.

John grinned and let go of Jason’s chin so he could pat his cheek, mock affection. “There you go, kid. Rape your little bed buddy and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

Jason blew out a breath. Dick would never forgive him. He’d hate him, or at the very least resent him. But he’d be safe. Dick would get the chance to get out of the bedroom and Jason could maybe live with himself that way.

Or, if he couldn’t, there were ways out…

“I’ll do it,” Jason whispered.

John grinned wider and grabbed the walkie talkie on his belt. “Eric, Riley, get Grayson and bring him into the bedroom. Todd has agreed to give us a show.”

Jason clenched his jaw. Dick would be better off for this. What was one more nightmare for the both of them when they had millions? John undid the handcuffs and then wrapped an arm around Jason’s waist to pull him close. The teen could feel John’s arousal pressed up against his backside, just from the thought. The asshole made Jason sick. John’s lips pressed up against Jason’s ear. “I get even the slightest hint that you told him what’s going on and I’ll kill him. I get the idea that you’re going easy on him and I’ll kill him. Do it right, or don’t expect a damn thing from me. Got it?”

“Got it,” Jason repeated.

John let him go and Jason tried not to shudder. The walk to the bedroom felt absolutely awful. He didn’t drag his feet, knowing damn well that John would be pissed if he wavered now, but he tried to slow them down. It still felt too soon when the door was in front of them and John held it open for him to walk in.

Dick was there, and Riley had a hand on his ass. His eyes moved to the open door and surprise widened bright blue eyes at the sight of Jason. Dick’s hand, previously pushing Riley’s hand away, dropped. Clearly terrified of getting Jason in trouble by fighting them off.

“What’s going on?” Dick asked.

John closed and locked the door behind him but didn’t answer.

Dick’s eyes went between the guards, so focused on the threat they posed. He wouldn’t even view Jason as a threat, didn’t turn to him.

Jason settled his hand on Dick’s hip and the man jumped. His eyes went to John’s who met his with a silent order to get on with it. Jason closed his eyes and took a breath.

“What’s going on?” Dick repeated.

Jason grabbed Dick’s other hip and pulled him close. Dick jolted away from him, or tried. Jason wrapped an arm around Dick’s waist to keep him from getting any farther and locked his mouth over Dick’s neck.

“Jason, let go of me,” Dick said, pushing on the arm. Keeping him in this position meant Dick couldn’t see him and Jason was selfish enough to want to keep it that way. Hope that maybe Dick wouldn’t forever associate this with Jason. “Jason!”

Jason turned them and then shoved Dick onto the bed. He watched Dick scramble. He watched himself, from the back of his mind or from out of his body. It felt like another person had taken him over. “Get on your hands and knees, whore.”

Dick cringed with his whole body. “Jason, what are you-“

Jason grabbed the back of his neck and shoved him forward. Made Dick lower his head and arch his back for him.

Someone whistled from behind them and Dick kicked back, hitting Jason but not hard enough to really hurt. He crawled forward and Jason grabbed his ankle, dragging him back.

“Stop,” Dick growled. He twisted onto his back and tried to yank his foot out. He was still trying not to hurt Jason. He was still trying to keep from kicking him hard and it meant that Dick wasn’t protecting himself, not enough. “Let go of me.”

Jason climbed onto the bed between his legs, painfully aware of John’s eyes on him. They burned the back of his head.

“It won’t even hurt,” Jason said. He shoved his hands down on Dick’s chest, forcing him back against the bed again. “You’ve spread enough times I should have no problem getting in.”

Dick’s eyes flashed with hurt. “Jay… Why are you doing this?”

The words were on his lips, toying with the tip of his tongue and tempting him to wipe away that look in Dick’s eyes. Jason leaned down and pressed their lips together, and then sunk his teeth into Dick’s bottom lip so hard that it bled. “Because I want to, and they’re finally going to let me do it.”

Dick grunted, putting his hand up to his lip and looking at the blood staining his fingertips.

Jason went to work on Dick’s jeans, unzipping them. Dick punched him. Hard, this time. Giving up on trying not to hurt Jason, clearly. His jaw ached painfully and he reacted by backhanding Dick. The man’s head snapped to the side. Jason wrapped his hand around Dick’s neck, squeezing. “Don’t make me knock you out, Dickie. It won’t be nearly as much fun.”

Dick wrapped both hands around Jason’s wrist to try and pull it off. Jason had better leverage and the advantage of surprise. Dick was still staring at him like Jason had been possessed. He might as well have been. John was pulling all of the strings.

Jason squeezed tighter, Dick startled struggling to breath. He didn’t let go. Not until Dick started thrashing underneath him and digging his fingers into Jason’s wrist. He let go and looked at the bruises on Dick’s neck while his best friend struggled to get in every breath. “Next time you fight me, I don’t let go until I’m finished.”

Dick coughed hoarsely to the side, eyes avoiding him.

Metal clanged as it landed on the bed and both Jason and Dick looked at the handcuffs.

“A present,” John said.

Jason hesitated for barely a moment and then grabbed them. “Shouldn’t have fought me, Dickie. You’d have been better off just spreading for me like you do everyone else.”

Dick didn’t put up much of a fight getting the handcuffs on. His blue eyes, normally sparkling and bright, looked dull. Maybe Jason wasn’t the only one watching this from the back of his mind, now. He narrowed his eyes at the second click, however, and managed to spit on Jason.

Jason wiped it away and then reached down into Dick’s pants to squeeze him until he grunted from the painful grip. “Open your mouth, Dickie.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Dick muttered, through clenched teeth still from the pain.

“You want me to fuck you dry?” Jason asked. “Or you want to open your mouth?”

Dick glared up at him before very reluctantly parting his lips. There was nothing pleasurable about this. Unlike John who was sporting an obvious erection just from watching this, Jason felt ill. He didn’t want to touch Dick anymore, definitely didn’t want to stick his cock in the man’s mouth. The thought did as much for him as picturing a pile of worms.

“Bite me and I’ll beat your teeth in,” Jason said. He moved up to place a knee on either side of Dick’s head and straddle his face. From there it was as easy as sliding a hand into Dick’s hair and guiding himself into the hot, wet, heat of Dick’s mouth. “Suck, Dickie. You’re not going to want me going in dry.”

The threat of teeth made Jason consider pulling out, especially when Dick opened his eyes and what were normally beautiful blue eyes looked murderous. But the two of them, if nothing else, had become very good at surviving. So Dick finally worked his mouth, licking and sucking like a goddamn pro. Jason wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to do this, not with Dick staring at him like he was the same monster as the ones who had done this to them before – until he felt his gut warm and tighten, felt him harden in Dick’s mouth.

Apparently, God help him, Jason’s body didn’t care that he didn’t want to be doing this. Dick’s mouth was sublime and he’d get hard with or without his own permission. And the sensation of it seemed to connect the wires in Dick’s head too because he managed to somehow look even more furious than before.

Jason wanted to explain, wanted to tell him that it wasn’t something he wanted…

“His mouth is fucking perfect, isn’t it?” John asked.

Jason pulled himself out from between Dick’s lips, leaving a trail of spit and precum between them and the tip of his cock. “Perfect.”

Dick pulled at the cuffs again but then just shifted into a more comfortable position. Even with Dick having sucked him off first, it would be a bit rough. Jason tried to do the best job prepping Dick he could, but had to cut it short when John cleared his throat.

He spread Dick’s legs and pushed himself against Dick.

“I hate you,” Dick said. Barely more than a whisper. Jason’s chest hurt.

He looked away from Dick’s face and slammed into him, forcing himself to stretch the older boy on his cock. He rocked back out and then snapped his hips to push himself in again. Dick’s body rocked up with every thrust. And with every thrust, Jason’s gut tightened and warmed. He could feel the edge approaching, even as Dick closed off more and more. It was sick, getting off on this. Jason really was just as bad as John or Frank or any of the other bastards who bought their time.

Jason panted above him and then tightened his grip around Dick’s hips before stilling inside of him and releasing with a groan.

Dick made a face Jason nearly didn’t notice. Jason caught his breath quickly and the climbed off of Dick. He looked at the man who laid there, still. Jason turned to John who wore a grin and was zipping up his own pants.

Pervert.

“Get Grayson cleaned up. He needs to be ready to go in ten minutes,” John said.

Dick’s head came up, as much as his position secured to the bed would allow him. Jason’s stomach rolled. “No. We had a deal.”

John laughed and grabbed his arm. “You think I give two shits what deal you made? Lesson number one, kid, before you join our ranks? When you have the gun, you make the rules.”

Jason really did drag his feet when John yanked on his wrist to pull him out of the room. “No. Stop!”

Riley and Eric moved to Dick’s side and Jason tried to bolt towards him, explain. “Dick!”

The door slammed shut between them.

~~~

“He’s gone,” Frank said.

Jason didn’t look up.

“John told me what happened,” Frank said.

Jason ignored him, kept his head down. It’s what he should have done from the beginning.

Wooden floorboards creaked under Frank’s shifting weight. “They’ll be here within the next month or so, while him leaving is still fresh. They’ll offer you a way out of the bedroom.”

“Fuck off,” Jason muttered.

“It’s a death sentence if you refuse,” Frank said. “I thought you might want to know, in case you wanted that.”

Wanted death? Jason had never wanted death as bad as he did right now. All he could think about was the lifeless look in Dick’s eyes and the way he’d snapped, “ _I hate you_.”

How badly he’d failed him… how far he’d let Dick down.

“Are you listening to me, Todd? Dick is gone. They’re going to auction him off. They’ll be here to put a bullet in you by the end of the mon-“

“I’ll do it,” Jason said.

Frank cut off by the interruption. He fell silent. “You were pretty adamant against it before.”

“That was then. This is now,” Jason muttered. “I’ll do it. Tell them I’ll do it.”

Frank was quiet again. “They’ll still come to talk to you. Ask you some questions.”

“Fine,” Jason said. “But I’m in.”

“You’re making the right choice,” Frank said. “It might not feel like it now, but eventually you get used to this and it’s easier. It’s worth it to get off your back.”

Jason didn’t care about that. He cared about finding Dick. He needed to get him back, get him free. The best chance he had at doing that was proving to these people that he could be trusted with that information.

“Do you want a few pills to get some sleep?” Frank asked.

Jason shook his head. He deserved the nightmares.

_“I hate you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, guys. So that's it for the first installment. This was a rough chapter to write. The next installment will be part of the bigger series but "his wings are clipped and his feet are tied" is complete. Keep an eye out for part two!


End file.
